Surrounded by death

STOCKTON - Fifty-four burning candles lined the sidewalk Monday afternoon in front of Paisano Market on East Main Street.

Joe Goldeen

STOCKTON - Fifty-four burning candles lined the sidewalk Monday afternoon in front of Paisano Market on East Main Street.

Instead of a welcome from "the nicest guy in the world," customers and passers-by were greeted with handmade signs on the front of the closed neighborhood store informing them of Omar's untimely death.

Omar was the name people knew. His birth name was Majad Awnallah, according to the San Joaquin County Coroner's Office. Awnallah, 37, was killed by a gunman's bullet shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, one of two men seen inside the store at that time wearing black hooded sweatshirts, Stockton police reported. The coroner also released the name of Albert Williams, 35, of Stockton, another Stockton homicide victim in an unrelated shooting early Sunday on Acapulco Way.

"Omar was a good man. He took care of everybody. You can do so much good and then negativity comes and bites you in the back," said Marcus Brown, 34, a neighbor of the market at 2460 E. Main St. that has known its share of violence. Ryan Booth, 20, an aspiring rapper and musical engineer, was killed after leaving the market Feb. 10.

"He used to call me 'Champ,' " Brown said of Awnallah.

Another regular customer, Isabel Riberal, came by the market Monday to leave flowers and a vase at the foot of the makeshift shrine. She spoke with Awnallah earlier on the day he died. She said he had been employed at Paisano's for six months. He constantly talked about his family back home in San Bernardino. The father of five was saving money to bring his family up to Stockton, Riberal said.

"It's so sad. He was a really nice guy. This is just so messed up. We're all in shock. The hearsay is that he saved the other clerk from being shot.

"We're really going to miss him," she said.

Police, who are still investigating the case and looking for witnesses, have not released further details and could not confirm what Riberal said.

A typewritten letter headlined "COMMUNITY BROKEN" posted on the front of the store dated Sunday is in many ways symbolic of what many residents are feeling as Stockton experiences a record number of homicides this year.

"Gone but never forgotten. Unfortunately the way the Lord chose your time to end in this world ended up another tally on Stockton's crime. Dear Lord, please wrap yours arms around this family and community at which he served. We need a change. We need Love. We need more than just bullets loaded in a chamber. The blast effects go beyond just family. This community is broken. I am sorry this was the end for you. Please take unity in the other angels lost in Stockton's crime and protect us. We have nothing left to do but have hope and prayer for the sake of this community. R.I.P. Omar. You will forever be in our family's heart. Love, The Jacobson family."

In the weekend's other homicide, an arrest warrant has been issued for Lunny Onesavanh, 22, whom Stockton police identified Monday as the suspect in the shooting of Albert Williams shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday in the 8600 block of Acapulco Way.

Onesavanh, a documented gang member whom police consider armed and dangerous, was described as a Laotian male, 6 feet tall and 230 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. The photo provided by police shows his head shaved.

Onesavanh was allegedly one of three young Asian males seen approaching Williams and two others that morning. All three victims were critically wounded and taken to area hospitals. Williams is the 65th homicide being investigated by Stockton Police in 2012. The San Joaquin Sheriff's Office is investigating 10, five of which happened near Stockton city limits.

If Onesavanh is located, police ask that the public contact Detectives David Givens or Joseph Martin during the day at (209) 937-8323 or after hours at (209) 937-8245.